A COUNCIL was under fire yesterday after an official apparently asked for funding for Britain’s first needle vending machine which the authority later rejected.

The revelation was made following a Freedom of Information request to the Welsh Assembly.

And it brought demands for further answers from Conwy County Borough Council.

Tonight Colwyn Bay town councillors will discuss the situation.

In a costly battle Conwy fought off a bid by North Wales police chief Richard Brunstrom to install the machine, at the rear of Colwyn Bay police station.

He’d caused a storm by branding local residents and other opponents “intolerant Nimbys.”

But although a planning inspector ruled in the council’s favour, the saga left taxpayers with a £50,000 bill.

Now a letter from the Welsh Assembly to a Conwy council official in February 2006 has emerged in which she was informed “your application has been approved” and a grant of £7,850 awarded.

The official was part of Conwy Substance Misuse Action Team which also includes police officers.

Yesterday Councillor Chris Hughes, a former mayor of Colwyn Bay, said he had written to Conwy council chief executive Derek Barker seeking to discover which council officials and elected members knew about the grant application.

“I want a fully detailed response from the chief executive. If I don’t get it I will approach colleagues and ask them to support me at a full council where the chief executive can explain to us,” he said.

“Either we are wrong in our interpretation of this correspondence or we have been misled.”

Mr Hughes said if it emerged Conwy had made the application for a capital grant then Colwyn Bay residents would “feel betrayed.”

The councillor had made FOI requests seeking information from the council and police.

He added: “We have been raising this issue over the last two years, asking questions about how this came into being.

“It had been maintained that North Wales police were responsible for acquiring the machine. The letter seems to suggest that’s not correct.”

He added: “The Assembly appear to be open and above board and have provided significantly more information.”

Mr Brunstrom had written in his blog in September 2006: “I have discovered that needle exchange machines are available in Australia.

“We have to find a suitable site, and the best seems to be on the back wall of Colwyn Bay police station. Planning permission will be required, so I have applied for it.”

Mr Barker: “The matter has been raised internally and we’re looking into it.”